No way this was going to be the latest in the endless sequels to a SOB story.

Same old Browns? Decidedly not, based on Sunday’s

24-18 punch to the face of the defending Super Bowl champs. Not a single Brown apologized for talking about 4-5 as a record good enough to talk playoffs.

“Right now,” linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said after a Sunday thriller, “we know we’re in the hunt.”

Seizing sole possession of second place in the AFC North doesn’t seem like much unless you don’t realize the Browns are better than 3-6 after nine games for the first time since 2007.

No one was more eager to throw that SOB story into the bonfire than head coach Rob Chudzinski.

The first-year head coach rolled the dice on two monster fourth-and-1s, resulting in a first-quarter touchdown

(a 1-yard pass to Davone Bess) and a fourth-quarter first down.

Failure on the latter play would have given Baltimore the ball near midfield, needing a filed goal to tie with more than three minutes left.

“That shows us that as a coach, Chud’s not going to quit,” quarterback Jason Campbell said. “We won’t either.”

Campbell played most of the game with injured ribs — he took a pained expression to the X-ray room afterward, emerging saying he doesn’t think anything was broken. The injury, caused when 340-pound Haloti Ngata splattered him and drew a 15-yard penalty, influenced Campbell’s throwing.

Yet, he made a good-enough toss to allow Bess to make a tough catch on that second fourth-and-1, gaining three monumental yards. He followed that with a pretty 17-yard completion over the middle to Chris Ogbonnaya.

He directed the offense to a field goal with 14 seconds left that swelled the lead to 24-18.

“Jason was hurting out there,” Chudzinski said. “He kept fighting, and he made some huge plays.”

It was the day of the fall time change. Night fell by the third quarter. It got tense under the lights.

The Browns led 14-10 when Eric Martin was late to the field as the Browns’ punt-coverage unit lined up. Yet, Martin was the first man to arrive after Baltimore’s Tandon Doss fumbled Spencer Lanning’s moon-shot. Martin recovered at the 11. On second down, the Ravens didn’t bother covering tight end Gary Barnidge, who caught a 4-yard touchdown pass.

Baltimore wasn’t down 21-10 for long. A punt return set up a 32-yard touchdown drive on the first series of the fourth quarter. A two-point conversion made it 21-18.

Page 2 of 2 - Greg Little turned a short catch over the middle into a 46-yard play, but that fizzled out with a pooch punt.

Before leaving with a shoulder injury, Little was a huge factor (seven catches, 122 yards) in the Browns 315-278 edge in net yards.

Campbell outplayed the reigning Super Bowl MVP. Flacco threw more passes, 41-35. Campbell led in yards, 262-250, and rating, 116.6-82.4. He took less sacks, 5-3, and threw no picks (Flacco gave up one).

“Congratulations to Cleveland,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who had been 11-0 against the Browns. “They deserved to win the game. Their receivers came up big with some early catches. I thought Jason Campbell played exceptionally well.”

The Browns kicked themselves for not putting the game away early.

An otherwise strong half ended in SOB fashion. On third and 10, leading 14-3 with a chance to punt the Ravens into a hole, the Browns opted to pass. Campbell went down for a 10-yard loss. The Ravens took over at their own 32 with a minute left.

Baltimore’s quarterback went Shane Falco to Joe Montana. Pummeled for most of the half, Flacco fired a third-down bomb to Torrey Smith. Then he delivered a 19-yard touchdown strike to rookie Marlon Brown with nine seconds left.

The Browns still led 14-10, but they had led by six at halftime at Baltimore and wound up losing 14-6.

Before that possession, the Browns led 160 yards to 68.

Bess, last week’s goat, got open just across the goal line on the first fourth-and-1. Campbell hit him for a touchdown.

The Ravens made it 7-3 on 51-yard field goal.

The game disappeared under a cloud of personal fouls, one on Ngata that temporarily sent Campbell to the bench, two on Little, who gallantly or stupidly, depending on one’s perspective, was in a retaliatory mood.

The second flag against Little took the Browns from the 12 to the 27, but Campbell stayed cool. On second down, he went to Bess, who turned a short pass in the right flat into a 20-yard touchdown play.

It was 14-3, and a crowd of 71,513 buckled in for a ride.

“We were up 14-3. We were up 21-10,” said the linebacker Jackson. “I’ve been in the league long enough to know that means nothing.”

Jackson’s flashing eyes made it clear this win meant something. He and Joe Thomas are the only current Browns who were on the team when the Browns last beat Baltimore, i33-30 in overtime on Nov. 18, 2007.

“This puts us in the hunt,” Jackson said. “Let’s win enough to stay in it, and see where that takes us.”